The Telephone Call
by ChaChaChar
Summary: She died. Her death was so sudden that she herself, was caught unawares... she hadn't even been able to say her goodbye. How do you contact someone who lives half across the world when you're all ready dead? With a summary like this, a bit of the suspe


DISCLAMER: Rurouni Kenshin is not mine. Who'd believe me even if I say I did?  
  
The telephone call  
  
By: Chachachar 02.19.04  
  
SCENE I:  
  
The short hand was not quite in between one and two; it leaned, just by a hair, towards the latter while the long hand was perhaps fifteen ticks away from six. Perhaps fifteen but may have been sixteen – the accuracy depended on the second hand that unfortunately the clock was lacking.  
  
She hated the monotonous ticking sound against the silence.  
  
The shrill ring of the telephone announced the arrival of the long hand at six.  
  
Sharp and sudden, it shattered the silence.  
  
Startled, she knocked over her glass of water. An accident. Her heart pounded and her breaths came quickly. Eyes wide, she watched the water flowed from the tipped glass to seep into the white sheet of paper. It was half blank. The ink on its upper half was starting to run. She got up with the intention to save what she could from the flood but...  
  
The telephone rang again.  
  
It seemed that the telephone needed her immediate attention more than her soaked notes. It was more vocal in any case.  
  
She turned away from the table, mindful of the chair, and went to the sitting room. There was a hint of annoyance in her steps.  
  
SCENE II  
  
She picked up the remote and sat where it was formerly resting on the couch. She held it in her left hand.  
  
She picked up the receiver with her right, after the third ring. The caller ID displayed an unknown number.  
  
"Hello" Her pulse was becoming regular again but her breathing was still a little off.  
  
Her greeting was met by soft static.  
  
"Hello" she tried again. Louder this time.  
  
"Hey" finally a response – a familiar enthusiastic one.  
  
"Che... only you can cause a mini disaster even from half the world away." There was a slight teasing in her tone.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"The phone gave me quite a scare... shaved five years off my life damn you... and I spilled water all over my notes. Guess who was the caller..."  
  
"Oh." Not at all repentant.  
  
"Go figure"  
  
"Are you waiting for an apology?"  
  
"..."  
  
"You're not going to get one."  
  
"Bitch..." But there was no malice in her voice.  
  
Bantering with Kaoru was always fun but something that she did not get to do often nowadays. With one busy establishing herself in a foreign place and the other trying desperately to make sense of her life, time did not allow for the little things – like discussing mundane things – things that were taken for granted in the past but had now become a precious rarity.  
  
Yet despite the distance and the challenges in their individual ever- changing lives, their friendship held constant. Partly because both made a conscious and sincere effort to maintain contact but mostly because circumstances like living at opposite hemispheres and factors like a twenty- four hour limit on a single day were simply nothing compared to catastrophes that said friendship saw them through.  
  
"Why thank you." She truly missed Kaoru but she would never admit it to her. That Tanuki's ego was large enough without her help.  
  
"It wasn't a compliment..." She leaned back and rested the remote on her lap.  
  
"That depends on who you're talking to, dear."  
  
She smiled. It was touched with a happiness felt when, from oneself, a piece that was missing for such a long time had returned.  
  
SCENE III  
  
"So... How are you?" Only Kaoru could lace concern with condescension while still remain affectionate.  
  
"Not bad... not bad at all." And she truly was. Problems were unavoidable since life liked to throw them at random but at the present the only anomaly she could think of was the wet mess in her kitchen. "And you?"  
  
"Loved it here. I had a job that I had always wanted. My life was mine even if it was only... I couldn't have asked for more"  
  
A small frown appeared on her otherwise serene features. There was something a little off... "Are you sure you're all right?"  
  
"I was happy."  
  
There it was again. But it was difficult to ask about it since she could not quite pin 'it' down. "Hnn..."  
  
"What? Sorry, I'm not fluent in whatever dialect you just spoke in..."  
  
"Shut up" Then again, 'it' could just be the usual weirdness from her eccentric friend.  
  
"So how's school going?"  
  
"Great. I was just doing some reading when you called."  
  
"I'm sorry I interrupted." It was a real apology.  
  
"Oh not a problem. I'm not behind or anything... I'm actually reading ahead, so don't worry about it."  
  
"That's good. Make sure you keep up this time. You don't have your family to use as an excuse anymore."  
  
"I will, I will. Don't worry, I've got my head screwed on right this time around."  
  
"That's what I wanted to hear. Make sure you keep up."  
  
"I said I would all ready..." She knew Kaoru was just concerned but she did not like to be reminded of her fumbles in the past. She promised herself she would do better and she would not fail... ever again, because Kaoru was so far away...  
  
"Just making sure... So, how's your brother?"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Ryunosuke."  
  
"He's doing all right... but he's still living with them so he's not... you know."  
  
"Ryusuke?"  
  
"He's focused on school, which is good... but he's in the same boat with Ryusuke so..."  
  
"Why don't they move in with you? I'm sure you'll let them."  
  
"I will. They want to move out... it will be a hell of a lot better for them, especially Ryusuke."  
  
"Then why..."  
  
"It's Mother."  
  
"Oh." Kaoru needed no other explanation to understand. "So, I take it that the Great Idiot is still there?"  
  
"Sadly."  
  
"Should I ask how she's doing?" Chartreuse knew it was a sensitive topic.  
  
"Still pregnant and still an idiot." She could not keep the venom out of her voice.  
  
"How much longer?"  
  
"About three months"  
  
"That soon huh..."  
  
"Yeah, but I don't fucking care. I've all ready disowned that fool. Hell, my parents practically disowned me now that we don't live in the same hellhole. And you know what, I thank God for that. I've suffered enough and I'm not taking shit from them anymore."  
  
"Well said. Still, I feel sorry for the child... none of it was its fault. Do you know what she'll do with it after it's born?"  
  
"I don't know. It might sound cruel but I just can't bring myself to care. She made it clear to everyone that it was her business so I say let her handle it."  
  
"Still..."  
  
"I know, I know... but can we talk about something else please?" It was not often that they got to talk and only Heaven knows when they'll see each other again. She did not want to waste their time on senseless things.  
  
"I'm sorry I won't be there..."  
  
"Don't be... you've done more than enough to help. I'll be fine... like I said I don't care anymore so it doesn't affect me." She was very grateful to Kaoru and because of that she would not have her worrying about things that cannot be undone.  
  
"Hmm..."  
  
"Can we NOW talk about something else please?"  
  
"Sure... so when are you getting married?"  
  
"Oh for the love of... I just met him a month and a half ago! Besides we're just friends..." And the light mood was restored.  
  
"Uh huh just friends... don't tell me that nothing happened since we last talked..."  
  
"Which was a month ago... the guy doesn't move that fast... hell, I don't move that fast."  
  
"Oh, so you do have plans to 'bust a move'?"  
  
"...Maybe."  
  
And Kaoru laughed. It was a refreshing sound. She felt her own laughter bubbling forth from her chest.  
  
She felt warm.  
  
SCENE IV  
  
"Hey I have to go soon..."  
  
"Okay..." But she did not want to let go just yet.  
  
"Take care of yourself always, all right... and I have a good feeling about this guy."  
  
"The last time you said that..."  
  
"Forget about that time... THIS time I know."  
  
"How can you be so sure?"  
  
"... I just am, okay. Don't worry about every little thing and do well in school... and eat healthy foods."  
  
"Yes mom."  
  
"Remember that you're a beautiful person, regardless if other people say otherwise." The slight teasing was gone from Kaoru's voice and was solemn when she said, "You're very precious to me so please, please take care of yourself."  
  
"Yeah, yeah..." She could not help but be touched. Sentimental and sometimes overly emotional, if she did not break the mood that they had suddenly fallen under, she might start to cry. "So when can I expect you to call again?"  
  
"Um, about that..."  
  
"Oh fine you cheapskate, if you're so afraid of racking up your phone bill, I'll call you. So when are you free?"  
  
The soft static that was unnoticeable when Kaoru talked was present again.  
  
"Hello? Are you still there?"  
  
No response.  
  
"Kaoru?" She leaned forward, disturbing the remote on her lap.  
  
It fell on the floor face down with a sharp noise.  
  
The television came on. The time display on the screen read "1:42".  
  
"Kaoru?" She tried again and finally she got a respond.  
  
"I'm sorry Megumi... you won't be able to talk to me anymore."  
  
There was a click and all she heard after was the jarring sound of the busy tone.  
  
SCENE V  
  
Confused, she pulled the received away from her ear and replaced it on the cradle.  
  
The longer she sat staring at the telephone the urge to call that Tanuki back became stronger. Not bothering to pick up the remote, she reached for her personal phone book.  
  
As she flipped the pages, she vaguely wondered why CNN was on. Oprah was on the last time...  
  
"International news are scheduled for later but this is just in...a terrorist attack happened in Nagata, a quiet little town in the Nakano ward of the Tokyo metropolitan area Japan this after noon at around one fifteen," reported the news anchor.  
  
She turned her attention to the screen. The location the man gave was the same as the one written on the page.  
  
There was, what seemed to be, a live footage of what was happening. The sky was still dark, but that may have been due to the smoke of burning buildings. Firefighters, policemen, paramedics... all sorts of people in uniform were about...  
  
"It was fifteen after four a.m. there in Japan when a series of explosions woke up that part of the city. Three blocks are on fire... and we understand that firefighters are still battling the flames. The number of casualties is still unknown. Rescue efforts are still going. One can only imagine the state of confusion...the reason for the attack is still under investigation. At this point, many things are unclear."  
  
The picture of flames and people was replaced by a familiar face.  
  
"I don't know if it's ethical to do this..." was the soft personal remark. "This driver's license was found on the person of one of the casualties who was shot during the attack... it matches with the identity of the victim." The voice was somber.  
  
"Kaoru Kamiya was pronounced dead at one-twenty one this afternoon..."  
  
The short hand was just a hair above two while the long hand was perhaps fifteen ticks away from eleven. Perhaps fifteen but it may have been sixteen – it was difficult to be precise since the clock was missing a second hand.  
  
The arrival of the long hand at eleven was announced by silence.  
  
A/N: Please review and let me know if this is complete garbage or if  
I'm allowed to continue... there are plans to expand this to a  
multichappy fic. Grammar errors, spelling errors, idiotic mistakes...  
please let me know. 


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